Improvement in car-axle boxes



W.v W. WORSWIGK.

Oar-Axle B0X No. 213,082. Patented Mar; 11,1879.l

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EER T -LITHOGRA HER. WASHING? N, D.

NITED' STATES PATENT WILLIAM IV. WOBSWIOK, OF OLEVELAND,I OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAR-AXLE BOXES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 213,082, dated March 11, 1879; application filed J annary 27, 1879.

To'all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM WALTER WORSWICK, of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented av certain new and Improved Axle-Box for Railway-Cars, Sto. g and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and complete description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a p art of the same.

The nature of this invention relates to axlejournal boxes for railway-cars, Src., the object of which is to prevent the axle from undue wearin g by causing the same to run upon antifriction rollers arranged in the box around the axle-journal. Said rollers are guided in their movement around the axle-journal, and caused to maintain a central bearing relation to the axle-journal, by an annular rib or projection secured to the inner surface of the axle-box at about the central part. The said annular rib is adapted to fit loosely in a corresponding annular groove around each of the rollers, whereby they are restrained from undue lateral movement, and from impinging against the ends of the box, as aforesaid.

The peculiar shape of the rib is such as to guide the rollers so that they may have a central bearing upon the journal, thereby dispensing with the use of rings for holding and guiding the rollers usually employed in this class ofjournal-boxes. j f

The following is a more full description of the invention.

Figure l is an outside view of the axle-box. Fig. 2 is an end view, partly in section. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the box, rollers, and axle. Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the box. Fig. 5 is a detached portion of the centrall rib.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several views.

The journal-box alluded to above consists of the shell A, which may be of the shape shown, or of such modification thereof as will 'best adapt it to the place and purpose for which it is intended.

G C' are the plates covering the ends of the box. The plates are secured thereto by bolts a, or otherwise. Circnmterentially, and midway between the ends of the box, is secured an annular rib or rin g, D.

In Fig. 2 a part of the end plate of the box is shown as broken away, that the annular rib Said rib is wider at the lower j may be seen.' side of the box than at the upper, as will be seen in Fig. 4, which represents one-half of the annular `rib when the said rib is cutv through its diameter from top to bottom. The dotted lines in Fig. 3 indicate a half-section of the rib when cut in the same direction. The purpose of constructing the rib variable in width will presently be shown.

E is the car axle or journal, around which are arranged the rollers F. In each of said rollers is a groove, Gr, Fig. 3, a little wider than the widest part of the annular rib received therein.

It will be observed that the rollers are shorter than the length of the box, so much so that in their lateralmovement they cannot impinge against the end plates of the box, .being prevented from so doing by theannular rib during the time they are free on the lower side of the box, and not supporting the weight of the car.

In the drawings the end of the axle is shown as secured by a screw to the end plate of the axle-box. This, however, is not essential. The screw may be omitted and the axle at lowed to be free in the midst ofthe rollers.

Cars when in motion have more or less lat# eral movement, the force of which at times is very great. e Thislateral movement causes the ends of the axle to inipinge against the end plates, upon which the said ends rub, produci ing a large amount of friction and consequent wearing of the parts. The lateral movement of the axle carries with it the roller, and if the lateral movement of the axle be consider-gable, the ends of the rollers-will thereby be forced against the end plates of the axle-box, 5

which will prevent them from turning, producing undue strain and wearing of the axle, and causing the rollers to twist. This is often the result in the axle-boxes in ordinary use, the rollers of which are forced against the ends of the box by the end-thrust of the axle. To prevent this fault of the ordinary axle-box, a certain amount of end-play (more or less) is allowed for the axle.

The length of the rollers is so proportioned in respect to the dist-ance allowed for the said that is to say, the end of the axle will impinge upon the end plate of the box before the ends ofthe rollers can reach it; hence there can be no contact of the ends ol' the rollers with the end plate or the said grooves with the rib D.

The force of the lateral thrust of the axle is expended upon the end plate, and not upon the rollers, which will, therefore, continue .to

revolve upon the axle-journal in their revolu tionary movement over it, at which time theyl are bearing the weight of the car. As a consequence of the end-thrust of the axle, the rollers will be carried or moved more or less endwise in the box by it. The -narrowness of the upper part of the annular rib will allow of such lateral movement of the upper rollers without the shoulders of the grooves coming against the said annular rib; hence there will be no chang of the sides of the rib and the shoulders ofthe grooves.

When the upper rollers are displaced laterally from their more central position by theend-thrust of the axle, they are again made to assume a central position, as shown in Fig. 3, by the wider part of the annular rib 5 and as the rollers in succession roll from the top of the journal around to the under side, where they no longer bear the weight of the car, they are moved to their central position by the widening of the rib acting upon the shoulders ofthe grooves, so that each roller in suc-V cession comes to the upper side of the axlejournal at or about the :middle of it, as shown in said Fig. 3, thereby receiving the weight of the car while in a central position to the axlebox, which they could not assume were it not for the annular rib; but, on the contrary, the rollers would return from the under tothe upper side of the axle-box in such lateral displacement as they may have received by the end-thrust of the axle, and which may have forced them hard against the end of the box and prevented them from rolling, thereby producing a large amount of friction on the endy plates of the box and upon the face of the journal by the twisting and vclogging of the rollers.

It will be seen in Fig. 2 that the uppermostrollers do not touch each other. Therefore no resistance is made by them to their separate rotary movement, though revolving in opposite directions.

Fromthe abover description of thejournalbox it willbe obvious ithatthe series of rollers surrounding the axle requires no rings to hold them in proper position, and that no swaying of the carcan force them against the ends of the axle-box, causing them to twist across the axleor cut into it by ceasing to rotate.

The rollers are inserted in the box around the axleas follows: In the lower side of the box is an opening cutting through the annular rib, thereby removing a segment of it in length suficient vto allow the end of a roller to pass through. In the above-said opening is fitted a plug, I, Fig. 2, a detached View of which is shown in Fig. 5. The upper end or surface of the plug. is a segment adapted to fitl the section cut out from the rib; hence, when the plug is inserted in the opening, there will be an unbroken continuation of the rib, as shown in the drawings. serted in the box, so many of the rollers vare placed in around it as will pass between it and the rib. The rest of the rollers are then pushed in around the axle by passing them through the segmental space in the rib formed by withdrawing the plug from the opening. When the rollers are all in, the plug is inserted, thereby lillin g up the space through which the rollers had been passed. The plug is secured therein by any suitable means.A In this way all the rollers are easily and readily inserted in the axle-box around the `journal. The end plate, C', is then placed on and properlysecured.

By this construction and arrangement of a journal-box little or no oil is required, and the journal will have an easy and free play without the chang and cutting of the journal and twisting and clogging of said rollers.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A journal-box provided internally with an annular rib of dil'erent width, in combination with a series of rollers having circumferf.v

ential grooves adapted to receive the said rib and encirclingthe rollers, substantially as described.

2. In car axle journal-boxes, the combination of the case or shell A, provided with aninte rior annular rib, differing in wid th and adapted to the grooves of the rollers therein, plug I,

forming a segment of said rib, rollers F, and

journal, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

WILLIAM WALTER WORSICK.

Witnesses:

J. H. BURRIDGE, W. H. BURRIDGE.

When the axle is in- 

